Page 89 of The Chemist

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have reacted that way. Please, tell me. What did your mom do?”

The wind whipped against their skin as the wheel continued on its endless journey.

Shrugging his shoulders, Diesel took a deep breath and then proceeded to explain how his mother had betrayed him, allowing his stepfather to pin the robbery on him, causing him to go to jail for two years. It was during those two years that Diesel was introduced to the wonderful world of cocaine. By the time he got out, he was hooked and angry at the world.

“The day I was released, no one met me at the jail. So instead of heading back to that shit hole, I took the few belongings I had in my possession and hopped a bus to London. I was living on the streets for a year before Matteo found me and saved my life.”

Zero couldn’t believe the shit Diesel’s family put him through. His mouth felt dry, and he never wanted to murder a family so badly before.

He pulled Diesel in against his body and rested his head against his.

“I’m so sorry that you went through all that. If I ever meet your folks, they’ll be breathing through tubes.”

He could almost feel Diesel smile at the threat to his parents’ lives.

“If I ever see them again, they won’t be breathing at all,” Diesel added as well.

Lifting his head, they both locked eyes for what felt like an eternity. Before he knew what he was doing, Zero leaned in, and their lips found each other.

Time fell away as the wheel continued to spin, and their tongues found themselves new homes.

35

ZERO

It was just after two a.m. when Diesel and Zero finally returned home.

Trying not to wake anyone, Zero carefully unlocked the door and held it open for Diesel to enter.

“Sneaking in after curfew?” a strange voice asked through the darkness.

Diesel jumped back, getting tangled up in Zero’s protective arms. Without thinking, Zero pulled Diesel behind him, taking a protective stance in front of him. He didn’t realize what he was doing until it was too late.

“Glad to see you still got a set of balls on ya, kid.”

The living room light came on, and Zero breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Jesus. You scared the shit out of us, boss. What the fuck are you doing here?”

Giving them both a heavy stare, Marc leaned back on the sofa and crossed one leg over his lap.

“I’m here to get this shit wrapped up. The case has been going on long enough.” Marc’s eyes shifted to the figure standing behind Zero. “Diesel, was it?”

Diesel stepped around Zero, straightening his hoodie and taking a lean against the wall. He nodded.

“Where are the other guys?” Zero asked, stepping into the living room and taking a seat in the armchair next to the sofa.

Marc was sitting on the couch in a pair of black boxer briefs and a sleeveless Deftones T-shirt. His jeans were folded neatly and resting on the edge of the coffee table, while a small decorative pillow sat at the end of the sofa.

“The muscle stripper boy is downstairs sleeping. Someone needs to tell that meathead that the floors in this place aren’t that thick, especially when he’s sex-videoing with his boyfriend. Lover? Whatever the fuck he has. Chase, on the other hand, is out meeting a contact to grab some surveillance equipment we’ll need,” Marc responded.

Diesel snort-chuckled.

It had been a few months since Zero had last seen Marc and his husband, Alex. Marc had recruited him about six months ago to assist Chase with running down the names listed in theirBook of Sin.

If Marc was here, that meant that he wasn’t happy with their progress.Fuck.Marc lived in the United States, Brooklyn, to be precise. And if he had come all the way to London… that wasn’t a good sign.

“Hope we aren’t dropping the case,” Zero asked. If the rumors about this guy were true, he wanted to nail this guy’s fuckin’ ass.

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